Former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou has revealed that money wasn’t the only reason why he decided to part ways with the UFC.
Ngannou vacated the heavyweight title and was released by the UFC this past weekend, after the two parties failed to reach a new deal. After UFC Vegas 67, Dana White told the media that the promotion has decided to book a vacant heavyweight title fight between Jon Jones and Ciryl Gane at UFC 285, because ‘The Predator’ did not sign a new contract. The UFC president added that the Cameroonian didn’t want to take a lot of risks and wanted easier fights for more money, insinuating that he didn’t want to fight ‘Bones’.
Francis Ngannou On UFC Exit
In a recent appearance on MMA Fighting‘s The MMA Hour, Ngannou shared his side of the story, revealing that although money was part of the negotiations, it wasn’t the reason why he decided against signing a new deal.
“I guess money was a part of it but it wasn’t all about money,” Ngannou said. “They don’t talk about what the negotiation was about. They just talked about the money to make it the biggest heavyweight contract in history, they control the narrative, but I wish it could have worked out. It was a three-fight deal, I asked for the three but no extension. One was Jon Jones, Stipe then a rematch with Jon Jones. I asked for sponsorship rights which we have been ripped off and we can’t have sponsorship. I asked for health insurance and I asked for someone in the board meeting who can advocate for the fighters.
“They said, ‘no, we don’t do business like that’. They said I can pay my health insurance, but I said how about those guys who are at the bottom? It is something that I still carried in my heart. I was asking it for everyone. I knew it couldn’t happen but I asked, yes. But even the money wasn’t that okay.”
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